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Alasdair Gold

Every word Antonio Conte said on PSG 'fake news', his future, his tactics and Reguilon injury

Any fresh team news?

Yeah the only update is that [Sergio] Reguilon is not available. He has a groin pain. The others are OK.

This is your 100th Premier League game as a manager...

Ah, yeah? Good to know! Honestly I don't follow the stats but that's great. Thank you very much.

Will there be 100 more?

I hope so because we're talking about a fantastic league, the best league in the world now and the most competitive.
If you work here you have the possibility to face the best players, the best coaches and also to understand your level.

READ MORE: Fabio Paratici draws up shortlist for his new Tottenham number two to help share transfer load

Do you expect to be here next season and what did you make of the PSG links?

Obviously I think that it's good that other clubs appreciate my work. This is one thing. But the truth is that I don't like when people try to invent news - only to speak, only to create problems. This is not right, not fair for me, for the clubs involved and for my players.

Also because we're really focused on these five games to get a fantastic result for us. I repeat, this type of situation makes me smile.
But I think that also the people that want to tell something about this have to show respect for all the people involved in this situation, and not invent fake news and tell a lot of lies.

Have you spoken to Oliver Skipp?

I have spoken with the doctors and they said to me that the surgery was OK, it went well. For sure, Oliver will be ready for pre-season, for next season. It's a pity because don't forget that we lost two players in Skipp and Tanganga from January. We don't have two reliable players like them and for sure it's not good for me to manage the situation. This squad is not so deep so to lose two players that for us we're talking about important players; it's not good news.

There are always accusations about the club's lack of mental strength? Did pressure play a part in the last couple of matches?

First of all, I want to underline that we're fighting for a target that, at the start of the season, no one could imagine. Especially in November because when I arrived the situation wasn't good - otherwise you wouldn't change the coach. So to arrive with five games to go with the possibility to get this result is a great achievement for us.

So for this reason, we have to face the situation with great enthusiasm because we have nothing to lose and only to earn. We are doing something special for the situation we faced this season. I spoke with my players and it's the same with our fans, they have to continue to support us and push us until the end.

We're living this dream. We have to continue until the end to get a place in the Champions League. It's right to underline that we are fighting for a target that wasn't in our mind at the start of the season. For this reason I want to push everybody at the club to have great enthusiasm, great passion, our fans to stay with us and to back us from the start until the end. If we reach this target, all the people in Tottenham have to be happy to reach this target and everybody has to be involved to meet this target.

As a manager linked elsewhere did you have to talk to the players about the PSG reports to allay their concerns?

In this situation, who works in football - players or managers - know very well that at this point of the season, a lot of fake news starts to go out.

We're working very hard and my players know very well we're very focused. We're speaking a lot about this opportunity. We have to live this situation with passion, enthusiasm and joy. I repeat, we deserve to stay there and to fight for a place in the Champions League. A place in Champions League is not easy for no one.

To stay there, we need to enjoy this situation. For this reason, I repeat our fans have to stay with us at every moment. Positive and negative moments. We deserve to fight until the end and have a big push from our fans.

The fans have been worried you might leave, especially after a week like this, do you have a message for them?

In this moment our fans, me, the players, the club, the fans we need to be focused, we need to be concentrated on an important target for us. We have a big opportunity to try to get a place in the Champions League.

It's a big opportunity for us because no one can imagine to stay and fight for this target in this league now in this moment. In the past it was different, but now you know very well what I said in the past that it would be a miracle to get this achievement.

Now it would be very important to be focused and not listen to fake news and the people that for sure want to create problems for the environment. We have to play these five games and then you know, because I answer a lot of times, that at the end of the season in a private way I will speak with my club and I will see the best solution.

Carlo Ancelotti is about to become the first manager in history to win the grand slam, what are your thoughts on him?

My thoughts on Carlo, he was also my coach at Juventus for two years and for the national team when he was assistant coach to Sacchi in the World Cup.

I can speak only not well, but much more than well about Carlo. He has shown to be a great manager, a great coach and to win in five different leagues it means that you are good, you are good because it's not easy. It's not easy to be coaching in different countries because you find different leagues and you have to go into the mentality of the country that you are working in.

For this reason I wish for him the best. He deserves this and he's having a fantastic season at Real Madrid and I can speak only well about Carlo. He was my coach for two years, we didn't win with Juventus but only this disappointment that we didn't win together but I wish him only the best.

How long will Sergio Reguilon be out for and can anyone else play at wing-back?

Now we have Emerson and Sessegnon available. I think that during the game Kulusevski can play in that position. I think the best solution is not to change what we know, what we are doing for seven months.

With this formation, we know the way to play, this formation gives us great satisfaction. But if something else happens - I hope not - from now until the end, I for sure am forced to change something and find another solution.

I don’t know the time needed to recover. It’s a (inaudible) problem for Reguilon. Groin pain. If you ask me how much time he needed, I don’t know.

Do you have to win all five matches remaining to get fourth place?

I think if you win five games, probably you get a place in Champions League, but in England it’s impossible to think that in every game, you are going to win. You won’t.

We have to go step by step, and game by game. On Sunday we face Leicester and you know very well they have a really good squad. For sure it will be a difficult game.

We have to go step by step and understand that this is a big opportunity for us and we have to face every game with great enthusiasm, great passion and with joy. Also to share this joy with our fans because we are fighting for something special. For this reason, this type of situation has to give us a lot of energy for the final games of the season.

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